If you are thinking about staying in Sedona with your family, I wanted to provide an honest review of our experience staying at the Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock Resort.
Our family of six (2 adults and 4 kids) stayed in the hotel over spring break, and I wanted to share with you what we thought about the overall hotel stay and what we would have done differently knowing what we know now. I hope this is helpful as you plan your own trip to Sedona.
Overview of Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock
The Hilton resort is located just a few minutes after you get off the highway. It's "in Bell Rock" because it is located to the mountain that looks like a "bell".
The hotel is located off of the main strip, which is great if you want to get away from the noise. If you are looking for a resort that is close to the shopping and restaurants, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this hotel as it is off of the main drag. However, we found it great just because it was a bit more quiet than the other area and there were some food options for our family (like Johnny's Rotten Pizza) that were walkable from the hotel.
As you enter the city and drive towards the hotel, you will find the drive towards the hotel beautiful. There was plenty of parking when we arrived. There is a section near the front door that requires you to do a few turns, but if you do, you'll get a parking spot next to the very front of the hotel lobby elevators. From what we could see, the hotel only had one main entry way to get to your room.
Overall, as we looked at the hotel from the lobby to the hotel room, we found it absolutely immaculate and clean (unlike our stay in Phoenix at the same Hilton chain). The hotel overall is a bit more expensive than in Phoenix, but then again, everything in Sedona is like 35% higher including for food, hotel, and souvenirs.
Price of Hotel Room in Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock
For our family of 4 kids and 2 adults, it turn out to be around $822 a night for two nights over spring break in April. This was quite high, considering that our hotel stay at Disney World for a villa suite was this price for four nights.
While I think we could have found a more affordable option in Sedona, we were doing it on a whim and just decided to book.
Room Overview
We booked a 2 queen bed suite that faced the red rocks. You could see the beautiful sunrise over the rocks. However, in hindsight, I don't think I would have paid a few hundred dollars more for this view.
The room had two pretty comfortable beds (I might be biased because we did some strenuous hikes during the day) each with four pillows. They had a ton of outlets and lots of room.
The living space had a pullout sofa which the kids absolutely loved.
It also featured a kitchenette, which had a refrigerator, microwave, and coffee machine. There was a dining table that seated 4 people as well (which also had plug-in sockets near by, which was great for working at a desk).
The bathroom was split with the shower and toilet with a door separated from the sink, which was great for our family.
Housekeeping
When we arrived, we had a sign that said that we would need to request special housekeeping services if we needed it. Otherwise, the default would be that housekeeping would not be included. However, it turned out that housekeeping did indeed come in to tidy up our room, which we didn't realize they would do. Something to be aware of, especially if you are bringing valuable and expensive equipment that you don't want laying around.
Room Service for Dining
Room service does not actually bring food to your room. We had ordered 4 ice creams for the kids to the room, but we had to actually go downstairs and get it ourselves. While it wasn't a big deal, I expected actual room service since we were busy trying to get the kids dried off and showered before getting ice cream and it would have saved us some effort.
Lobby Space Review
The lobby was very clean and spacious. There was an area where you could view all of the rocks and they even had hiking trail tips and tricks that you could take on a little key ring.
In the same area, they had large floor board games like Connect 4 and Chess.
Coffee and Breakfast
They have a "built-in" Starbucks which is open between 5:30 - 11:00 when we were there. We never actually ate breakfast in the restaurant, but it did appear busy. However, it seemed that there was always a 5 minute wait to get someone to seat you. I could only assume that the service would be longer if you were to actually dine-in there.
Convenience Store
There is a convenience store that is right around the lobby that you could buy anything that you would have forgotten at home. It's not as expansive as the Hilton in Phoenix, but it did have a fair amount of items.
S'mores Disappointment
The Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock advertises their "Smores" over the fire. What they don't tell you in the marketing is that they cost around $15 for a S'mores Package. In addition, there are only a handful of fire pits that you can do s'mores around and it's first come first serve. You don't want to be that family that intrudes on another family already located at the firepit. To top that off, when we were there, they were out of "crackers" so they didn't even have any of the packets ready. This was kind of disappointing because I told the kids that if they hiked long enough, we'd treat them to some S'mores sandwiches.
Resort Pool and Spa
The pool area was beautiful. There is a zero entry for little toddlers and I believe it went around 3 feet all around the pool.
There were no life jackets, so make sure you bring them. They had yellow striped beach towels that we could borrow when we were there.
In addition, there was a hot tub near the other end that you could also use that can fit up to ten people.
Final Thoughts on Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock with Families
The hotel was absolutely beautiful. While it was located off of the main strip, we didn't mind at all. It only added an extra 10 minutes, which gave us time to think about what we wanted to do when driving into town.
I thought the view was breathtaking, but if you want to save the money, you could probably do without the view. The hotel was super clean and the staff were really friendly.
Overall, it was pretty expensive for just a hotel. However, we found that the kids loved going to the pool after putting them up for a few hard hikes, so having a place with a big pool and clean rooms was well worth it. Checkout more details below.
Sedona Vacation Tips
- 2 Day Itinerary in Sedona with Kids
- 3 Day Itinerary in Sedona with Kids
- Restaurants in Sedona
- Hilton Sedona in Bell Rock Resort Honest Review
- West Fork Oak Creek Trail with Kids
- Slide Rock in Sedona with Kids
- Bell Rock Loop Hike with Kids
- Baldwin Loop Trail Hike with Families
- Chapel of the Holy Cross
